Trolley-retriever



G. E. HARPHAM..

TROLLEY RETRHZVER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, I918.

1,381,875. Patented June 14, 1921.

as l 2 TIT INVENTEIB 'FATENT 'GFFEC E.

GEORGE E. I-IARPI-IAM, or LOS enemas, LIFORNIA.

To all whom it may concern: V

Be it known thatl, GEORGE E. Hanrrrxir, a citizen of theUnited States, residin at the city ofLos Angeles, county of 0s Angeles, State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolley.

Retrievers, of which the following is a specification. a

My invention relates to trolley retrievers for electrically operated cars to which the power is conveyed by means of overhead feed wires; and the object thereof is to provide improved mechanism for lowering the trolley pole when its conductor wheel leaves the feed wire.

The drawing is a side elevation partly in section of that portion of a trolley which embraces my invention, the usual spring mechanism for raising the wheel to the feed wire being omitted for clearness of illustration.

Referring to the drawings, 5 is the base plate which is secured upon the car roof (not shown). member 7 of thetrolley pole which member is revolubly mounted on plate 5. An l,- shaped bracket 8 forming the pole base, car'- ries the trolley pole, 9 on the end of which is carried the usual conductor wheel (not shown). The lower member of bracket 8 is bifurcated and is iivotally secured to base 7 by bolt 10. Base 4 has upwardly extending arms 11 in which is rockably mounted'the air cylinder 12. A piston 13 is mounted in cylinder 12 and has a stem 14: that is pivotally connected to the upper arm of bracket '8 by bolt 15. On the rear head of'cylinder 12 is a valve chamber casing 16 which forms valve chamber 17. A pipe 18 connects chamber 17 with the interior of cylinder 12 at its front end. Pipe 18 is connected by pipe 19 to a source of compressed air supply (not shown) in the usual manner. Valve chamber 17 is connected by port 20 with the interior of cylinder 12. Port 20 is normally closed by valve 21 which has a hollow stem 22 which extends through port 20. Valve 21 under normal running conditions prevents the compressed air fromentering the rear end of cylinder 12. On the inner end of stem 22 is screwed or otherwise secured, a piston 23 which has a loose working fit in cylinder 12 and is normally held a short distance in front of the rear head 12 of cylinder 12.

A packing ring 24: is preferably secured to the rear face of piston 23. A port 25 A hollow bolt 6 secures the base 191s. Serial No. 234,940.

.extendsthrough the piston and packing to r c no t rs Patent Patented June 14, 1921. Application-filed. may '16,

providefor the passage of air therethrough under normal running conditions. If desired the packing ring 24 could beomitted. A port 26 extends through the rearhead of cylinder 12 preferably near the bottom. Ports 25 and 26 permit the air to flow into and out of cylinder 12 under normal running conditions. Stem 22 has ports 27 there in near valve 21. Bracket 8 carries the .usual arms and springs (omitted for clearness of illustration) by means of which the wheel is carried to the feedwire when the air is shutoff from cylinder 12. Casing- 16 is closed by a plug 28. V

In the operation of my device the conductor wheel is held in contact with the feed wire by spring and air pressure in the usual well known manner. When the conductor wheel leaves the feed wire accidentally while thecar is running, piston 13 is caused to rapidly approach the rear head, thereby compressing the air between the piston and piston 23 which causes piston 23 to seat itself on the rear head of the cylinder and tocarry valve 21 of its seat. Compressed air then flows through stem 22 into cylinder 12 between piston 23 and piston 13 and forces piston 13 toward the front end of the cylinder, thereby causing the conductor wheel to be depressed below the overhead structure and avoids damage thereto. Pipe 19 carries the usual release valve, not shown, and when the wheel is to be returned to the wire the releasevalve is turned to exhaust the air from cylinder 12 when the usual spring returns the conductor wheel to the feed wire. A spring 29 in chamber 17 then returns valve 21 and connected parts to their normal position as shown in Fig. 1.

By this construction it will be seen that as soon as the conductor wheel leaves the feed wire the full air pressure is applied to depress such wheel below the overhead feed wire as soon as valve 21 is unseated. However, should the valve 21 stick, as soon as the disk in the cylinder reaches the piston on the stem of such valve, the valve will be unseated and air pres-sure will be applied to the full rear face of piston 13 and the wheel will then be quickly brought down below the over-head feed wire. Instead of ports in the disks there could be sufficient clearance for the flow of the air around the pistons for usual running conditions. My retrieving device could be used with those trolleys where the conductor wheel is held in contact with the feed wire by spring pressure. In such case it is only necessary to provide air pressure for the valve chamber on the rear end of cylinder 12.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a trolley retriever the combination of an air cylinder having front and rear heads, said rear head having ports or openings therethrough; an air chamber mounted upon the rear head of said cylinder, the interior of which is in communication with the interior of the cylinder through an opening in the rear head; a pipe connecting said chamber and the front end of the cylinder; means to supply compressed air into said pipe; a valve in said air chamber; a hollow stem secured to said valve and projecting into said cylinder, said stem having portstherein near said valve; a piston secured upon the end of said stem within said cylinder and having. a port or opening therethrough; another piston within said cylinder operatively connected to the trolley pole; and a trolley pole.

2. In a trolley retriever, a trolley pole; an air cylinder; a piston in said cylinder operatively connected to said pole and adapted to move the free end of the pole either upwardly or downwardly; a valve chamber at the rear end of said cylinder in communicat tion with the interior of said cylinder through an opening in the rear head; a valve in said chamber adapted to control said communication; and means to operate said valve to open said communication when the trolley wheel accidentally leaves the feed wire when the car is running, whereby the wheel is brought below the span wires.

In witness that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto subscribed my name this 11th day of May, 1918.

GEORGE E. HARPHAM. 

